OK....let's try for an example that might illustrate what I'm talking about.

FB friends are judges for a Macarena competitions (you know, the funky dance thing from the mid 90s?). Way back when, when the Macarena competitions were invented, there was also a certain offshoot of the competitions where you actually had to play the Macarena on a drum set. Macarena competitions start with teams of children and progress to older ages. Only very large competitions still do both aspects, or sometimes the playing aspect is only included at advanced levels, like for adults who have been doing this since they were children. For both aspects, there are rules to judge the performances, but obviously they are very different disciplines and thus, the criteria on which to judge them is very different. Typically, if you're a dancer, you don't play, and vice versa. So even though they both involve the Macarena, they generally don't overlap.

I got to know both of these people through Macarena dance competitions about 6 years ago. However, I've been involved in the sport of Macarena playing for almost as long, and am one of the few in our area who know something about the discipline. They both know that I'm really into Macarena playing.

Both of the people had apparently just taken the certification exam so they'd make sure that they were current on the latest and greatest rules for judging Macarena competitions. Since this is primarily geared toward the Dance aspect, and they only ever judge the Dancing, the Playing is out of their area of expertise. On their FB walls, they remarked that they'd just taken the exam and really hated the questions about judging the Macarena playing. I simply asked what types of questions they were. It wasn't something where I'd be able to research it for myself unless I went through the entire training that they do when someone wants to be certified as a Macarena judge (which I don't and can't, for other reasons). So I was just curious as to if they were in-depth questions or just something general that someone with very little knowledge of the playing aspect would be able to deduce and answer.

It seemed to be a very mundane question, yet one that was DIRECTLY related to both of their posts, since they brought it up in the first place! So that's what struck me as odd about (first) not getting any sort of response, and then (second) finding that my comment had disappeared.

Hope that helps with understanding.

And now I think I'm off to download the Macarena and do some Macarena cardio.

So basically they posted they "hated" having to give information on a side shoot topic they aren't interested in and your response was to ask them to give you information on the side shoot topic? I think I understand completely why they deleted your question! You were dwelling on and asking them to delve into the negative aspects of the test. They probably wanted positive "wow, hope you did well!" comments or other positive things like "whoo-hoo Macarena dancing is hella fun!", not "oh hey that part you hated, could you go into detail about it?"

So basically they posted they "hated" having to give information on a side shoot topic they aren't interested in and your response was to ask them to give you information on the side shoot topic? I think I understand completely why they deleted your question! You were dwelling on and asking them to delve into the negative aspects of the test. They probably wanted positive "wow, hope you did well!" comments or other positive things like "whoo-hoo Macarena dancing is hella fun!", not "oh hey that part you hated, could you go into detail about it?"

No, not at all!

The post was basically "I just took the judges exam for Macarena Dancing. I'm good for another year! I don't like the questions on the Macarena playing though. Wonder why they're still on the Dancing exam?"

One of the guys even private messaged me on FB once and out of the blue, asked some detailed questions about....Macarena playing opportunities around us. I happily answered them and we had a nice chat. It's not like they're averse to talking about it, with me. So that's why this seemed kind of .... odd.

Maybe they are not allowed to talk about the content of the questions?

Especially since they know you're really into Macarena playing, and they will be Macarena judges, your asking about the questions could be construed as looking for some kind of inside info or sneaky advantage. I'm not saying you were actually asking for this, or even that your friends thought you were, but maybe their judging guidelines forbid them from talking about this to anyone. It could even be that they deleted the status because they realized it was inappropriate for them, as judges, to be talking about the test content to a public audience.

I don't know much about the rules around judging competitions, but I don't think I'd be comfortable discussing specific questions about a test. Others may be taking the test soon and providing information on the questions asked seems off to me.